


Regrets don't suit you!

by Eteerih



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Feels, Gen, Hanayo pov, Maki Honoka and Umi make slightly longer appearances than KotoEliNozo, Multi, NicoRinPana is the trio of 'we have no plans for winter break', Nozomi is on a spiritual journey, School Idol Festival references, There are no ships or anything just attempts at subtle implications of honoumi and rinmaki for now, this fic is about NicoRinPana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:58:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9419747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eteerih/pseuds/Eteerih
Summary: „I guess that leaves me, Rin and Hanayo,“ Nico pondered, looking at Hanayo and Rin as they looked back at the third year. „We’ll just have to make the most of who we have."A story of how the infamous trio of NicoRinPana was born during a winter break where everyone else was busy or away.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First Love Live! fic! Or fanfic in general actually...I mostly write my original things for myself. But writing this so far has been super fun. I'm planning three chapters, but I might split it into four. Depends on what happens to chapter 2. It's just a fun idea I had, especially since brotps are very important to me in Love Live!. Also I often think of 'this song was definetly made/created in this stupid way, good fic material', then I never do anything with it. Hell, I've outlined a Maki fic (which is bad now) and done nothing with it. 
> 
> Expect as many School Idol Festival references as I can make, as I am drowning in idol hell ^q^. Look out for those (mostly) card references if you're familiar with it! And some song lyric references probably. Maybe. But mostly card references, because if no one else is doing it then I will, dammit!
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS TO @stanowar FOR HELPING ME WITH STUFFS AND IDEAS AND JUST BEING A GOOD FRIEND IN GENERAL
> 
> Recommendation: listening to after school NAVIGATORS while reading the lyrics is funny.
> 
> Alt. title: Adventures of Rice, Cat & Idol.

Winter break had just begun. The lessons of the final day before the holiday ended with the ring of the bell. Hanayo Koizumi stood, all her items in her bag, and looked at the duo of Rin Hoshizora and Maki Nishikino approaching her. Rin approached with her enthusiastic ’Kayo-chin!’, preaching how break has finally begun and how she could finally go on at least a week without any studying. Maki sighed, a mock-lecturing ’Rin’ escaping her. She vowed to not let Rin forget anything too important, to which Rin wailed to.

„Maki, don’t be such a bully!“ the girl cried. „Help me, Kayo-chin!“ She clung to Hanayo’s hand. Hanayo chuckled, a little nervous. Even with the knowledge that it was a friendly squabble (Maki and Rin did this often, after all), she couldn’t help but to always be just a little nervous about it. Same happened when Maki and Nico clashed with each other (which they, too, did quite often).

„Rin, I think it’ll be good for you later,“ Hanayo noted, but added, „but taking a break is important, too, so I think we should all take a few days to...maybe relax from all the school things?“

„Oh, Kayo-chin!“ Rin pulled back, her lips curled a little like a kittens. Despite being allergic to cats, Rin sometimes acted much like the kitties she loved. It was a funny choice for Kotori to give Rin a mouse costume in their latest photoshoot and mini-live. Kotori told Hanayo it was an interesting contrast, since Rin is associated with cats. Plus, Kotori had already made a cat costume for Rin long ago. The whole set of those costumes we’re odd animal choices, Hanayo thought, but she liked them. Her lion costume (’a lion!?’ was what Hanayo squeaked when Kotori presented the concept sketch) was really really cute.

„Hanayo isn’t wrong,“ Maki begun, „a few days to rest will be good for you, Rin,“ she smiled and pet Rin. „Though,“ the red-head turned away, her smile faded. „I don’t know how available I’ll be this break,“ she muttered. „I’m planning to finish quite a few songs during break, and maybe write a new one.“ She sighed. Hanayo recalled the brainstorming session for new songs about a month ago, and then a week or so after that, when Umi presented some drafts of words and ideas for some songs (it was a song for each sub-unit and one more song for the whole group). Maki must’ve had a lot on her plate.

„Aw,“ Rin frowned, „that’s a shame. But at least we’ll get new songs, right?“ In a moment, the frown Rin had was wiped away, replaced by pure excitement and enthusiasm. Just like Rin.

„That’s what I’m hoping for. I’ve thought of some ideas, and remember, I asked everyone for some kind of ideas, too,“ Maki tapped her chin. Her fingers fiddled with strands of her hair, a habit she revealed when pondering. Hanayo herself did remember when Maki asked for some sort of pretty, music describing words from them, having them read only the first line of Umi’s words. Hanayo can’t remember what she had said, though.

„Good luck, Maki,“ Hanayo smiled. „I’m sure you can make great songs!“ She loved all of μ's’ songs (all of them, the solos, the duets, the sub-unit songs, the group songs, etc.), some more than others. She remembered almost breaking into tears when Maki played the melody of „Na wa Tobi“ for the first time. Her very own solo song.

Maki blushed, tugging her hair wildly again. „I-I’ll try my best, of course,“ she pouted in a way that was very Maki-like. Hanayo and Rin giggled.

„We believe in you, Maki!“ Rin lunged and pulled the girl into a big hug. Maki flushed even more, but didn’t actively pull away from the embrace.

„Yes, yes,“ she mumbled with a tiny smile. Hanayo couldn’t help but to revel in the sight of her fellow first years getting along so well. „Hey, Rin, we should get going now.“ Maki wiggled in Rin’s iron hug. „Everyone’s waiting at the club room! Aren’t you already itching to get dancing?“ To the last comment, Rin pulled back as if someone just told her the ramen she was cooking had burnt to a crisp. Hanayo giggled.

 

* * *

 

When the three arrived at the club room, everyone was already there.

„Finally!“ Nico exclaimed. „What took you three so long?“ Hanayo chuckled, fidgeting a little. ’We ended up chatting a little too long’ seemed like a stupid excuse, and seems all three of them agreed quietly.

„Now we can start the meeting, so its no big deal,“ Eli said. Her hands were placed neatly on a table, but one of her fingers was tapping on the table a little impulsively. „We have a bit to talk about or announce before practice, so let’s get that out of the way.“

As the first years took their respective seats, Umi sighed tragically. „We have to cancel most practice sessions during the winter break, it seems,“ she muttered lowly and sadly. „Most of us are busy and even out of the country and there isn’t any new songs or lives to really practice for at the moment either, and there isn’t much point to practice with just three members.“ Everyone nodded along with a variety of expressions: who seemed worried, who was serious like at a corporates’ meeting (Nico), who seemed more carefree about it.

„So, where is everyone going or doing?“ Honoka asked, her head bobbing left (towards Kotori) and right (towards Umi). „I know I’m stuck working at the bakery,“ she scratched her head, suffering visible from her forced smile, „and I know that Umi’s preparing for the archery competition.“ Umi nodded firmly.

„I’ll be visiting my grandmother in Russia for Christmas,“ Eli clasped her hands together, looking excited. „Though I’ll be returning a day before classes, so I wont be able to join practice before classes if you decide to.“

„Since mostly everyone is away and busy, I decided to plan a very spiritual journey!“ Nozomi claimed. „I have been itching to go to the mountains once more, see.“ Hanayo instantly remembered when Rin told her how Umi and Nozomi had dragged her mountain climbing when they were at Maki’s vacation home. Mountains did seem spiritual, though... „A free moment has appeared, so I will take it to visit the seaside mountains,“ she added, „have you heard of the seaside town Uchiura? I heard the mountains there are beautiful, and that there is an old shrine as well!“

„Ooh, will we be getting souvenirs!?“ Rin piped up. Nozomi giggled.

„If there is anything, I’ll see. I’ll try to find some great, tasty snacks for everyone, though!“ Rin and Honoka joined in a cheer, their mouths forming identical ’o’ shapes.

„I’m going to be working in Akihabara this break,“ Kotori explained. „It’s a good way to earn more budget for working on future costumes.“ Hanayo admired Kotori’s efforts. Well, she was Minalinsky, the legendary maid of Akihabara. Kotori was truly an admirable figure.

„I’ll be working on songs. I’ll be either at home or in the music room.“ Everyone acknowledged Maki with a nod. There wasn’t much else to say, besides wish good luck (Honoka released a loud, happy ’fighto dayo!’ as a good luck charm, and Nozomi promised to give the gods at the Uchiura shrine a prayer for Maki’s music to live on forever. She blushed to those).

„I guess that leaves me, Rin and Hanayo,“ Nico pondered, looking at Hanayo and Rin as they looked back at the third year. „We’ll just have to make the most of who we have,“ Nico huffed proudly. „I mean, this _is_ the idol research club.“

„Oh!“ Hanayo recalled a special, special box present in this very room. „ _The Legend of Legendary Idols_ complete DVD box set!“ She stood up and exclaimed.

„Exactly!“ Nico pointed backwards with a wry grin. „We’re going to watch them, and more!“ She turned to Rin. „Rin!“ The ginger nearly jumped at the sudden, kind of loud and super serious call out. „You’re going to love it just as much as us once we’re done!“ A somewhat goofy smile formed on Nico’s face.

Rin chuckled. „I don’t think I could ever surpass you or Kayo-chin on that,“ she waved her hands. „But, I’ll try my best, nya?“ Nico nodded eagerly. Hanayo was already excited on what was to come. Even if it was just the three of them, and no practice...like Nico said, they should make the most out of what they had.

„I guess that solved that,“ Nozomi laughed lightly. Umi nodded.

„Perhaps you can learn something new and share it with everyone later as well.“ As always, Umi was down to business, but the idea of taking notes (again?) wouldn’t hurt. μ's was successful, but there was always room for improvement.

„Though it would be great if you guys were a sub-unit,“ Honoka uttered. It seemed like a thought one didn’t necessarily intend to say out loud. Nico locked her eyes on Honoka then, her look turning into an intense stare.

„Hm,“ she grunted eventually.

„Looks like Nico got an idea?“ Maki sighed in an overly exasperated manner. „I wonder what it is this time...“

„Shush, Maki,“ Nico pointed at the red-head, who retaliated with a loud ’hah?!’. „μ's has no need for a fourth sub-unit when we’ve split into three perfect ones already.“ She crossed her arms. „It’s simply an interesting thought, you know.“

Hanayo agreed with Nico: μ's had split into sub-units so perfectly. She loved being in Printemps, working with Kotori and Honoka was so much fun. Lily white had beautiful songs, fitting for their voices. BiBi...BiBi’s songs were so hyper, and the trio of them was quite a dynamic. Hanayo wondered how it even worked. But she couldn’t imagine μ's in any other way.

Umi decided to change the topic. „Either way, seems like everyone will have something to do,“ she looked at everyone one by one, nodding and smiling. Umi liked being organized, to have a plan. „Even if we’re busy, let’s not forget to try and rest even a little before practice begins again!“

„But first, shouldn’t we finish today’s practice?“ Kotori noted. Hanayo had nearly forgotten they still had practice. Their talk had extended already to almost 20 minutes.

„That’s right,“ Eli said, breaking the silence. „Let’s go get changed and get to the roof before its too late.“

After practice, everyone said their goodbyes and wished good luck and a good holiday to each other.

 

* * *

 

Before Hanayo went on a different path than Rin and Maki, Rin asked, „What do you think Nico has in store for us? Do you really think we could be a sub-unit?“

„Of course not,“ Maki pouted. „It’s not really something you three should do without consulting everyone else.“

Hanayo giggled. „I don’t think we’ll be a subunit...we only have a little more than a week, and Maki is busy writing other songs. But,“ she looked straight at Rin, „I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun. I mean, watching _The Legend of Legendary Idols_ and eating rice...“

This time, it was Rin who giggled. „It’ll be lots of fun, nya! I can’t wait to learn more about professional idols~“

„Ah, you two,“ Maki smiled. „I hope you two have a good time. Don’t overeat the rice, though. It’ll be bad for you to eat just rice all the time.“ She raised a finger to emphasise her point. Hanayo wanted to counter her statement, but sadly, it was true. A diverse meal was a good meal, but rice was just so heavenly...

„I-I’ll keep that in mind,“ Hanayo murmured. „Good night for today, though.“ After the other two wished her a good night in return and Hanayo had walked a little further, she glanced back to find Rin clinging to Maki’s hand again, teasing her about something. She giggled to herself. Those two we’re a good match.

Sometimes Hanayo remembered that evening, when the two of them pushed her forward to grab her dreams. Standing in front of the distant-looking second years, who now have become her greatest friends, seemed odd now. Being an idol was Hanayo’s dream. But being an idol with the best of friends was something she couldn’t have imagined as a little child. She was overjoyed.

 

* * *

 

At 23:30, Hanayo’s phone buzzed. It was a notification. Nico had made a small group chat with her, Rin and Hanayo in it. She had already set nicknames to all three of them: Nico being ’SENSEI NICO♥’, Rin being ’rinya’ and Hanayo ’rice goddess’ (Nico sometimes called her the rice goddess because one of Hanayo’s costumes at one point was like robes of a Greek god. She had posed with rice crops). There was one message: ’lets gather @ homuras tomorrow @ 12:30.’, sent by Nico (with the username number1idol). As Hanayo finished reading the message, a reply from Rin (with the username nyashizora) appeared: ’were gonna go save honoka chan!??’. It was followed 15 seconds later by ’btw nice nicknames...sensei??’

Nico replied quickly with ’lol no we’re going to buy some pastries. everyone good? hanayo?’. Hanayo typed out a response: ’Ill be there!! ^.^’. Nico replied ’good! brb, checking on my siblings’, while Rin responded ’yay!!! lets have a great day kayo chin and nico chan!!!! :3c’

Hanayo sent a message saying good night and turned off her notifications just in case Rin and Nico kept talking. She was not a night owl, so she usually slept rather early, unless there was an important live stream or many tasks to do. Her phone was set on the nightstand right next to her glasses. She was curious as to how the following day would go and what Nico had planned for them.

She eventually fell asleep between the big cat-face pillow-plush Rin had gotten her a year or so ago and a small lion plushie Kotori had given her just a few months ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> If any wording seems odd then please comment about it. English isn't my native but I try my best. 
> 
> Soft nods to RinMaki and HonoUmi, because they're two ships I love. Especially HonoUmi. Expect more of that. Subtly. Because they aren't really in the fic...I love HonoUmi.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...How long did I slack on this? I even ended up splitting it into two chapters... Oh well.

 It was 12:25 when Hanayo turned at the corner of a street and Homura Bakery came into her field of vision. It was a block away, standing in all its glory. The junction itself was quiet. There were barely any people, as this was a rather quiet street, especially on a Saturday at 12:30. There was one figure in the distance, though, pacing around the corner the bakery was built in. A figure who was probably Nico.

„Good morning, Nico,“ Hanayo greeted her. The third year stopped her walking and turned to Hanayo in a near-spin. She was wearing a jacket lined with fur, but fingerless gloves peeked out from her sleeves. Or maybe it was a shirt that had sleeves like that, Hanayo couldn’t really tell. She was surprised, however, to see Nico with a skirt patterned with little white dots on a gradient black-grey and striped thigh highs. Surprised because there was a section of Nico’s legs that was revealed to the cold. Well, it could have been colder, but still... At least she wore high boots, also lined with fur.

„Good morning, Hanayo!“ She was in a really good mood. Nico was a true idol everywhere in the way that her smile and enthusiasm seemed to be infectious.

„How long have you already been waiting?“ Hanayo was here about five minutes earlier, so she wondered if Nico had just arrived a little earlier, too. She hoped so, because if she were in Nico’s shoes, her legs would be cold by now.

„Just ten minutes. As your SENSEI,“ hopefully referring to the nickname she had set to herself in the group chat she made, „I dutifully must be ready, so my precious underclassmen wont be left astray.“ Her hands were on her hips, striking a magnificent pose in the midday sunlight. It was a pose of a leader who could only be Nico.

From a distance, Hanayo heard a soft ’Kayo-chin’, with the i’s dragged out and getting louder. Rin came running, as expected, and made a full stop at them. Now their trio of ’we have no plans for winter holiday’ was complete. „When I saw you two, I thought I was already late, nya,“ Rin huffed, still a little out of breath, but as cheery as ever.

Hanayo noticed that Rin, too, was only wearing a skirt. Not even thigh highs, just a jean-like skirt, boots with the lining of her socks visible, along with a warm-looking dark sweater with golden stars and some sort of logo decorating it, big fluffy scarf tinged in purples, reds and blues and a chocolate-brown knitted hat with a small fluffball on top.

Was Hanayo that sensitive to the cold? While these two were out in skirts, she was in black trousers with short jeans on top for style and a simple green jacket with a sweater and blouse under it. She wasn’t used to wearing skirts of all things on December 27. Maybe it was a smile girl thing? She would have to ask Honoka sometime about the matter.

„You’re here now, so raise your head, Rin!“ Nico called out. Nico could have a very powerful voice if she wanted to, so it brought Hanayo back from her off-track thoughts. Rin stood straight with a salute.

„Yes, ma’am!“ She tried looking like a straight-faced soldier, but all three of them burst into giggles. Like that, they entered Homura Bakery laughing. It took Honoka a moment to register them.

„Nico! Rin! Hanayo!“ Honoka’s eyes widened and brightened at the sight of her friends who were not forced to do labor work during winter break. „Are you here to save me?“

„Don’t worry, Honoka, I’ll save you!“ Rin held out her hand, despite being at the entrance, before withdrawing it in a tragic expression. „But I can’t, not today,“ she mock-weeped while Honoka (hopefully not) actually weeped.

„Hang in there, Honoka,“ Hanayo wiped a non-existing tear for their comrade as she made her way to the counter with Nico and Rin. „Think of all the bread you’ll get to eat!“ Hanayo wondered if rice bread was a thing. Bread was good, but ricebread? Bread with rice? Holy.

Honoka put her hands together and bowed lightly. „Thank you for your prayers, Hanayo! O’ great rice goddess, please bless me on this painfully boring day.“ If Nozomi was here, Honoka would get a true spiritual prayer, probably.

„It’s just working,“ Nico raised an eyebrow. „Why are you wearing your uniform shirt under the apron?“ As Nico was asking that, Hanayo looked, and indeed, the Otonokizaka second year ribbon was visible from Honoka’s collar. The girl giggled and scratched her head and saying ’it kind of happened~’ as an excuse.

„Anyway, if you can’t handle a job, how do you handle the life of an idol?“ Nico crossed her hands and put on the True Idol Look. Honoka jolted up as if she just found the key to Pandora’s box or something of the sort.

„You’re right, Nico!“ She clenched her fists. „Do it for μ's, do it for μ's,“ she chanted, before clapping her hands together and straightening her pose. „So, are you ordering anything, too? Homura Bakery’s special steamed bun is great!“

„We’ll take twenty, nya!“ Rin squealed before anyone else could. Hanayo nodded, already thinking about the deliciously sweet and warmed buns. Homura’s buns were simply the best, next to rice, of course, but she and Honoka had bonded even more over these sweet, delicious steamed buns.

„Coming up!“ Honoka ran to the back, leaving the three at the counter.

„Do you think twenty will be enough?“ Rin turned to Nico and Hanayo. Hanayo doubted merely twenty steamed buns would ever be enough if Rin was thinking of a whole day.

„It’ll be enough since we’re going out for more, duh,“ Nico grinned wickedly. Hanayo’s thoughts were confirmed. She couldn’t wait, hoping rice was somewhat of a part of the ride. Rin ’nyad’ with exaggerated shock which quickly turned into excitement.

„Get ready, the two of you! This break is just getting started!“

 

* * *

 

Nico took them to the arcade. About 30 minutes passed after exiting from Homura Bakery when they arrived at the doors to the gaming haven, only about 9 steamed buns left. The arcade was quite packed, which was expected since break had begun. Thankfully, Nico seemed to find a free machine of the right kind. Hanayo could tell from the entrance (she couldn’t really see the text even with her glasses, but all the logos and font and everything implied it so it HAD to be): Love Live! School Idol Festival ~after school activity~. The arcade game released only at the start of the month. The game’s existence still seemed unbeliveable. But there it was.

After they had been offered the creation of an arcade game, when they had essentially become Love Live! champions, there was a long time of silence. Maybe Hanayo just missed the news? Along with Rin, it seemed.

Nico, who had noticed the look of wonder Hanayo probably had on her face right now, was grinning widely. She had crossed her arms and winked at the two of them. Speaking of Rin, she wailed a nya of excitement when the realization hit her.

„It’s really here,“ Rin exclaimed, „it really exists!“ Hanayo could barely believe it herself. She – they – were standing in front of an actual, physical arcade of After School Activity. Nico didn’t spend any time on gawking at it like them and instead started it immediately.

The first day passed like that – playing various games at the arcade for several hours, and then Nico lead them to the fastfood restaurant μ's had visited a little more than a few times in the past. The evening proceeded with nomming on cheeseburgers bought from said cafe and walking around town: to Otonokizaka, to the local shrine and finally – to their respective homes. Though it wasn’t that late when Hanayo arrived home, it still felt like the hours she spent with Nico and Rin had extended to double the amount. The three talked on their newfound groupchat and plans for the second day were made.

 

The next, second, day passed in a similar blur.

They went to bother Honoka again at midday only to see Umi there instead, having a sort of talk with the ginger-head. The moment Nico noticed, she stopped Rin and Hanayo from entering the shop, only offering a wink as explanation. Hanayo glanced back at the doorway that held the silhouettes of Honoka and Umi. „Those two,“ Nico sighed as they turned the corner and Homura Bakery got further and further away.

„I wonder if Umi was scolding Honoka again?“ Rin wondered, before glancing back smugly. „Or maybe she’s reciting new lyrics for a love song~“ Rin snickered. She claimed sharing a subunit with Umi and Nozomi of all people made for interesting chit-chat. Nozomi was smart and intuitive, all spiritual like that, said Rin. Nico snickered as well. Hanayo had to admit that Honoka and Umi we’re quite a combo. But she also had to admit that the two, and the second years in general, shared a close bond, no matter how harsh on each other they could be. She supposed it would count for the entirety of μ's by now.

At 15:00 the three had arrived in Akihabara. A-Rises turf, as it once was called. Akihabara was a fun place in Hanayo’s humble opinion. She did love all the merch she could get for all her favourite idols. Also she couldn’t forget the amazing cat-cafe that Rin had taken her to one time. Today seemed to be the second time she had the chance to visit it, as that’s exactly where Rin lead them right after they had looked around various shops of merch.

It was still a little odd to see merch of herself for Hanayo. Her face plastered on all kinds of things, along with the rest of μ's, still seemed weird sometimes. Maybe because Hanayo lacked that much confidence in her looks, it made her feel self-conscious (even her mom had gotten an uchiwa of her. Hanayo felt embarrassed, but humble and flattered when her mother assured her how cute and pretty she was). But she had gotten more and more used to it as time moved on.

The cat-cafe was a turning point for the whole break. As they (at least Hanayo and Rin) were busy slurping on the ramen while a handful of cats walked and purred around (Hanayo and Nico kept them at enough of a distance from Rin to not trigger her allergies, despite Rin saying she’ll be fine and she’s been here more than a few times) Nico exclaimed a near insane idea.

„We should write a song!“ Nico blurted out right after swallowing a long slurp of noodles. „Or well, two would make a single, so make that two!“

„Huh?“ Hanayo was still processing what the third year had just said. Rin had stopped eating and was staring at Nico, a piece of noodles hanging from her mouth, held up by chopsticks. Her eyes widened slightly, and she quickly swallowed the noodles.

„What are you saying, Nyico?“ Nico gave Rin a look of internal cringe after Rin had somehow combined ’nya’ and ’Nico’.

„Just as I said, we should write a song and show everyone how much fun we had during winter break through the sound of music.“ Nico crossed her arms, clearly proud of the idea.

„But we can’t write music?“ Hanayo piped up. She had no idea about this sudden burst of inspiration (?) Nico had, but she sort of liked the idea of making a song, just the three of them. Still, the fact remained that they couldn’t exactly write music or really play any instruments.

„Yeah, we’ll have Rin bug Maki about it.“ Nico ate some more ramen. She sure was calm about this, her enthusiasm from mere seconds ago degraded into a calm, collected tone.

„Why me?“ Rin whined, but Nico immediately retaliated with saying Rin could persuade Maki and added a way to bargain with Maki. The plan was that if all else fails, they would offer to help Maki make the other songs. Nico didn’t elaborate, but the only part Hanayo saw possible for them to do is test it out by actually singing and testing out the melodies.

„Don’t worry about the lyrics,“ Nico winked, „those we write ourselves, and they’ll be the best damn lyrics made by a third year and two first years. Come on you two, don’t you think it’ll be good to be at least a little productive during this break?“

The second day ended with Hanayo arriving home at 19:00, after roughly three hours of hanging around in Akihabara. The whole way home the three discussed about what sort of song it could be, Rin and Hanayo getting invested into the idea quickly. They discussed what the lyrics could be. They continued the discussion in the groupchat.

Nico’s words of ’let’s make the first heavy metal song of μ's’ never left Hanayo’s head as she was falling asleep.

 

The third day was again, checking on Honoka, this time getting dumplings, too, and running into Umi on the way to the train station. When asked, Umi simply said she was getting some lunch and that she was on her break from training. Nico gave her a smirk that would make anyone nervous. Umi simply made a face at her, and then they said their farewells.

They didn’t to anything special after getting off the train in a section of Tokyo further away from where everyone lived. They simply wandered around for half an hour, before deciding on a maid cafe. Hanayo remembered Kotori’s job as Minalinsky, and the three grieved their forgetfulness to go there instead. At least the cafe here was good, too. They decided to order waffles today instead, getting a plate full of them, various sauces offered to them. Hanayo settled on the classic maple syrup.

Nico brought up the topic of the lyrics again, and the three tried their best to get stuff written. It was difficult, they realized. Without much clear idea on what to go and what sort of melody to settle on, it really was super super difficult. One thing was for sure: Nico really wanted to do that heavy metal song. It took an hour after that to come up with the genius idea to make the lyrics about, well, food.

„It’ll be so unexpected,“ Nico clasped her hands together.

Hanayo added, „And it wont make the song seem too serious or dark either.“ She clasped her hands together as well. „It’ll still have the feeling of an idol song, sort of, despite such a genre!“

„I wonder if NicoRinPana will become the new subunit now, nya?“ Rin pondered. „Waah, Umi would kill me if I did that,“ she laughed. Nico agreed, saying something about Maki murdering her at last. Hanayo chuckled a little nervously. Was everyone else really that extreme? Then again, Nico and Maki did bicker a lot and Umi was pretty strict...Honoka, as the one being scolded by Umi a lot, wasn’t very strict and very easy-going, and Kotori was simply the kindest and encouraging person ever.

Though, Hanayo supposed the dynamics of each subunit were sort of clear from the kinds of music to be produced. Not that she minded: in Hanayo’s mind, the best idol songs were often the ones that complemented and shed light on the idols’ personality, be it through lyrics or most often through the style.

„NicoRinPana shall not be a ’subunit’, dear Rin,“ Nico begun, still appearing proud, „It shall be a trio who will go down in the history of μ's.“ She talked a little more about what a legacy it shall be, recorded in every wiki page about μ's and maybe they’ll even get their own section during big lives if everyone was fine with it. Hanayo didn’t know what to really think of it. The idea itself was sudden, but it was harmless fun. And who knew, maybe Nico’s thoughts did have a possibility to happen...

They kept discussing things over their waffles for a few hours. They even managed to get about ten lines of lyrics done, that everyone agreed seemed fine. So far the song, which was untitled with only a beta title of ’the metal one’ as of that day, seemed to summarize the foods they had eaten and questioning what to do with (life) the rest of the day after school. Even though they were on winter break, having an after school scenario probably worked better, since breaks were ’holy days of freedom and rest’ (as said by Nico and Rin).

They managed to spend the next two whole days working on their project, and actually ended up with lyrics for two whole songs. It seemed like a miracle to Hanayo, but she supposed it was a three idol effort. At least comparing to Umi, who had written words and lyrics in the span of a few hours and/or days all on her own.

 

* * *

 

Maki stared at the sheets of paper in awe. She kept staring, reading the words on them over and over. Hanayo’s fingers were fidgeting on her own, thinking what could be going through her head with songs like Sakkaku Crossroads existing. „Well?“ Nico crossed her arms. The red-head tapped on her chin and huffed.

„So you...you guys want to make a...a metal song?“ Maki bobbed her head to the side, and continued, „With these lyrics?“ She was obviously bewildered, but Hanayo didn’t blame her. For the genre they decided on it was an odd choice. „You?“ That was probably more directed at Rin and Hanayo.

„Exactly.“ Nico grinned and placed her hands on her hips, forming a true leaders pose. „You can’t say it’s not a good idea, though, right?“ She winked. Maki sighed.

„The concept, I guess it’s interesting,“ she pondered.

„So you’ll really do it, Maki!?“ Rin exclaimed with enthusiasm.

„Maybe... d-don’t get ahead of yourself, Rin,“ Maki pouted. „But don’t you think you’re relying on ’shock’,“ she made quotation marks with her free hand,  „factor too much?“ She raised an eyebrow. It was Nico’s turn to huff.

„With our cute voices combined, it’ll be a great song either way.“ Nico winked again. „You have to admit that, Maki~ Super idol Nico-nii and her cute Nico angels Rinya and Panayo will make even the heaviest metal song cute and idolly!“ She made the nico nico nii gesture along with a salute, to which Maki’s face visibly crunched up.

„It’ll be fine, Maki! We’re school idols after all. We should be able to work with every genre, let it be EDM or a ballad, right?“ Rin, basically ignoring Nico, did a small, tiny jump of victory. Maki blushed a little and begun twirling a strand of her hair.

„I guess I’ll help you guys out,“ she murmured when Rin, Nico and Hanayo high-fived each other. „But don’t go depending on me fully, I am trying to write songs for μ's, you know,“ she pouted and the three nodded.

„Don’t worry, we’ll begin brainstorming melody ideas tomorrow.“ Nico winked for the third time, even sticking her tongue out this time. „Leave it to us Maki, and make μ's proud,“ she mused, beginning to skip to the door of the music room. Rin followed her after giving Maki a quick hug and thanks, only waiting for Hanayo at the doorway.

„I hope you’re not too burdened, Maki.“ Hanayo didn’t want to bother Maki too much with these ideas, especially since the girl already seemed to have quite a lot on her plate for the break. Maki waved at her and smiled.

„Don’t worry, Hanayo, it’s fine. I’ve already finished one song and I have a general idea on what to do with the other few, so this really is fine,“ she added, „though kind of out of nowhere.“ Hanayo giggled nervously, scratching the back of her head.

„Good luck, then. But don’t overwork yourself either, okay? Me and Rin and Nico can try to help with the other songs, too, if you need it.“ Hanayo wanted to contribute to the works of μ's as much as she could’ve – song and lyric writing wasn’t her forte, but after today she had a little more confidence.

„I’ll keep that in mind. I mean... we will be working on your, that is you, Rin and Nico’s, songs tomorrow. If you want to I mean.“ Maki turned her eyes to the lyric paper once more. „I think it might be an interesting surprise for the others, too. These lyrics are...not what I’m used to, I’ll admit, but...m-maybe we’ll make it work,“ Maki muttered. Her hand had already found her way to tugging and twirling her hair again.

„I see,“ Hanayo smiled. She felt more reassured now. „I’ll see you tomorrow then?“

„I suppose,“ Maki sighed. „I’ll be here for a little more, so you shouldn’t keep them waiting.“ Maki turned to the piano again, placing the lyric paper on top of one of the piles of paper.

„Yeah, bye, Maki.“

 

* * *

 

 

„Tomorrow, we should have a sleepover,“ Nico said just before their ways home split. „At my place, of course.“

„That sounds like fun!“ Rin cheered. Hanayo agreed. She hadn’t been to many (the last being the time μ's stayed overnight at school – definetly a night she won’t ever forget), but the ones she had been to were fun. But...

„What about your siblings, Nico?“ Hanayo had nothing against the young Yazawa’s (who could have?), but she didn’t want to be a bother to Nico, who had to take care of her siblings. Rin mouthed an ’oh’.

Nico waved her hand. „No need to worry about that, Hanayo. Unless you have anything against them.“ She laughed as Hanayo waved her hands as a clear rejection of the latter.

„Back dancers,“ Rin mused out-loud. Nico flinched, but decided to ignore the comment.

„So, are we on? We can discuss the lyrics and song then more too, or if things go well with Maki, practice our new song...“ Nico sounded like in a dream. ’Our new song’ did sound like a big accomplishment in this context, Hanayo supposed. „And of course, we can’t forget the main reason: studying idols. We almost forgot about that!“

Hanayo piped up. „I’ll bring all my DVDs,“ she claimed. „I have a pretty big laptop screen, too, if that’s needed.“

„No need, I have a small TV we can use for that. But yeah, you bring those DVDs. Rin,“ Nico turned to Rin, who straightened her pose. „Can we count on you for most of the snacks? Of course, I hope you guys will join the Yazawa family dinner, but you know.“

„I’ll do my best, nya!“ Rin saluted. „I’ll find the best snacks for idol-watching. And I’ll get something for your lil’ sisters and brother, too.“ She giggled. Nico smiled in that big sisterly way she had when her siblings were brought up.

„Then it’s settled. Tomorrow, NicoRinPana will have the greatest event of the Idol Research Club!“ Nico pointed a finger to the night sky, as Hanayo and Rin joined her in the cheer.

 

* * *

 

Before falling asleep, yet again was Hanayo’s phone buzzing in her hands.

 

Rinya: i got the snacks :333

rinya: i wasted whats left of my allowance on the snacks wwww good thing new years is right here :’3

rice goddess: Is it really all gone? ><

rinya: im sure honoka will let me get dumplings for free just tomorrow TT__TT

SENSEI NICO♥: i would say i knew your troubles rin but ive learned ;)

SENSEI NICO♥: so anyway

SENSEI NICO♥: what did u get

rinya: ;_;

rinya: i got...CAT COOKIES!! its the same brand I brought to maki’s last sleepover

rice goddess: I heard they were getting pretty famous?

SENSEI NICO♥: Rin has been made into cookies?

rinya: yeah! theyve gotten really popular hehe

rinya: what do you mean nico!?!?

rice goddess: I remember how we got 2 packs of them the day they appeared in the store ^^;

SENSEI NICO♥: lol

rinya: they remind me of that pillowplushie i got you kayo!!

rice goddess: Oh...youre right, now that you say that

rinya: do you think they based them off of it? :0

rice goddess: It could be a coincidence too so its hard to say

rinya: maybe theyll make cookies out of the bunny version too

rinya: youd love those nico :3c

SENSEI NICO♥: oh yes~ anything else tho?

rinya: some chips and the usual ... idk what else to really get ww

rice goddess: I dont think we’ll need much considering we’ll get to eat Nicos homemade dinner tomorrow~

rinya: !!! youre right kayo chin!! >w<

SENSEI NICO♥: how are u so precious hanayo ;;;;

rice goddess: Eh?

SENSEI NICO♥: of course super idol niconii has the best homemade food!!!!!

SENSEI NICO♥: ill make sure to impress both of u

rinya: i cant wait for the yazawa dinner experience ;33333

rice goddess: Yeah!!

SENSEI NICO♥: you two...

 

The conversation went on a little longer, eventually ending with discussing the equipment brought again. Hanayo had already packed her DVDs (which were quite a handful) and prepared a change of clothes and extra PJs (aside from the leg warmers which she was wearing right now). Now the only thing to do was to wait for the following day. Thankfully tomorrow didn’t take that long to arrived after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will probably take a while. It shouldn't be too long, though.  
> The next few weeks will be busy for me, and I doubt I'll be able to get much done during next week ;_;


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been about three months, I am so sorry. I was busy at the end of march, but the rest of the time it just a complete lack of motivation. The last chapter should really come by quicker...  
> Thanks @stanowar for once again proofreading this thingy

Hanayo sat on the formerly cold bench. She had been sitting there for a few minutes so it had been warmed up already. Rin was late, though she had claimed to briefly drop by the music room at school (a.k.a where Maki was spending her break apparently). Hanayo had woken up at a time of about 9:45 and recieved messages from Rin about half an hour later, where the girl claimed Maki had been hit by a ’magnificent wave of inspiration’ and actually written the first verse and a bit of the chorus for the song. She also said she would quickly drop by so they could check it out at Nico’s.

Now it was 13:17, seven minutes over the time Rin and Hanayo were supposed to meet. Hanayo didn’t mind the waiting that much, she wasn’t particulary cold, but she didn’t want to make Nico wait too long or Rin rush too fast in this cold. To distract herself and to keep herself busy she looked and kept tapping on her phone. She scrolled through the various images in her gallery (various idol images saved from online and some photos from practice and what not), then proceeded to check Twitter (A-Rise seemed to announce a mini-performance to celebrate the New Year). And while she was busy scrolling down the various tweets, just as she was about to retweet a picture from Eli, she heard Rin’s bright ’Kayo-chin’ and looked up.

"Good morning, Rin." Hanayo had stood up, her phone safely back in the pocket of her bag. Rin had clearly jogged all the way here, indicated by the breathing she was doing, and she even had a pretty stuffed-looking backpack.

Rin huffed once more, then stretched, and finally answered: "Good day, Kayo-chin!" She gave a bright smile befitting Rin Hoshizora. "I got the notes from Maki. They look really good, too, as much as I looked," Rin giggled. "But...this really does seem a lot different to what we’ve usually been doing," she murmured, scartching the back of her head.

"How so?“ Hanayo asked. Other than they planned it to be a heavy metal song, what else could’ve been so unusual? Other than it was a freaking heavy metal song. Hanayo Koizumi, one of the highest pitched voices in μ's, was going to sing a heavy metal song. Hanayo prayed it didn’t have anything to do with the heavy metal songs that included screaming.

"I know we’re making a heavy metal song but I wonder if that’s what they’re really like, nya?“ Rin was unfortunately referring to things unknown to Hanayo as she had not seen the sheets. "There’s like...whispering and stuff, but it seems really cool!“

Hanayo almost gasped. It did sound interesting. And she always trusted Maki’s composing, so it couldn’t have been anything extreme. "I can’t wait to sing it,“ Hanayo mused, fiddling with her hands. Rin nodded along.

 

* * *

 

When the door to the Yazawa household stood in front of them, they raised their hands in a united knock, hitting it twice. In a few seconds the door opened, revealing a casually dressed Nico.

"Good day, my dear subordinates,“ she greeted them and held the door open. "You can leave the bags in my room. I already made it comfortable after all.“ Nico winked, and when Rin and Hanayo opened the door to her room, her words were confirmed.

The floor was almost entirely covered with mattresses, which in turn were covered by pillows and covers. A small TV was set a little further from the mattresses. Hanayo and Rin decided to put their bags into the corner of the room, in front of what seemed to be Nico’s dresser. Hanayo noticed Nico’s hoodie for their ’little devil’ photoshoot on a hanger on the dresser.

When the two returned to the living room, Nico’s siblings, Cocoro, Cocoa and Cotaro, welcomed them in their own warm ways.

"Will you sing your new song to us, too?“ Cocoro asked with obvious enthusiasm. It seems Nico had told the siblings of their new project...? Hanayo couldn’t help but twitch a little at the thought of the first people other than them hearing it were children as young as this. In a good way.

"Once we can put on a performance worthy of an idol, Cocoro,“ Nico winked as the girl gasped, her eyes almost literally sparkling with excitement. Hanayo couldn’t tell if that was Nico’s way of telling they wont hear it until an actual live or something else. "Speaking of that,“ Nico turned to Rin, „Rin, has Maki provided the equipment necessary for this quest?“ She said it like that in a straight face, too.

"Yep! All ready to go, possibly just a little bit crumpled.“ Rin made a gesture to emphasize that the crumpleness is very tiny and not important and everything is alright, the holy NicoRinPana treasure is safe.

"Shall we begin then?“

 

* * *

 

Back to Nico’s room they went, where Nico announced the ’schedule’ of the day. It wasn’t much of a schedule, but they were all eager to examine their very own new song. They agreed to leave the idol research after dinner until the long night. For now, Rin pulled out the printed copies of Maki’s night production.

The first reading couldn’t give them much insight. Hanayo was musically probably the most capable when it came to reading notes out of the three of them, but there was only so much to bed one with simply reading the music. So Hanayo pulled up a virtual keyboard (something which Kotori thought would be a good idea to have on everyone’s phones just in case) and they could begin.

A few voice exercises later and they hit the papers. And was that wild. The notes were riddled with Maki’s hand-written notes which had copious amounts of question marks after them. But what they did practice sounded really cool. Hanayo loved it.

When dinner came along, the three went to the kitchen. Hanayo wasn’t much of a cooker (except rice cooker, but also using an actual rice cooker most of the time), neither was Rin, but they still wanted to help. For dinner Nico decided to make curry, though, so Hanayo still got to be their resident rice cooker for the night.

Dinner was lovely. They chatted around each other, they chatted with Nico’s siblings, they enjoyed the food. Hanayo’s family didn’t have noisy dinners as this, she didn’t have any siblings, so it was a nice change. The food itself was good, too. The meal dragged on so long, though, because a lot of chatter was involved.

 

* * *

 

"That was such a good meal, nya,“ Rin sighed happily and gently slid down to her mattress.

"Nico, you should cook for everyone more,“ Hanayo noted. „Maybe even become a master chef!“

Nico giggled. "But if I became a master chef, then I’d leave no room for any other chefs, all restaurants would go bankrupt and disappear, nico~“ Over the top, as usual.

"I know you’re going to say it’s because if your ’cuteness, nico~’,“ Rin said with a high pitched Nico impression, "but I’d do it for the food. It’s the best, you’d make a great wife, hehe.“

"I already know that, Rin.“ Nico winked. "Do you know what the people overseas do?“ Hanayo’s mind brightened up by the mere mention of fans overseas. It was just weird to sometimes thing that people from Europe or America or wherever saw and liked and loved and supported μ's. "They have this term, ’waifu’, so I guess you could say that I am a, as they say, top-tier waifu.“ Nico looked as smug as could be. Hanayo didn’t understand what Nico was talking about, and neither did Rin seem to.

Nico could only sigh. "You two should do more research on what the english-speaking fans do. Though I agree, English is damn hard!“ Both Nico and Rin visibly wince at the mention of the horrifying subject known as English. Nico’s fist clenches and she makes a pained face. "But for the sake of our fans...“

Hanayo and Rin join in a silent prayer for comrades such as Honoka and Nico and Rin themself. Hanayo herself treated English as any subject, but she could see why the other three were struggling. A whole different alphabet... But English was useful, not only for fans. Thinking back to it, Nico’s talk about overseas fans made her curious now.

 

A loud clap ended Hanayo’s trail of thought.

"Now,“ Nico begun, "let us finally dive into the world of idol’s, shall we?“ Rin hummed something on the mattress. Excitement rised in Hanayo.

"Shall we start immediately with The Legend of Legendary Idols, or...?“ Hanayo pondered. She was quite eager to watch the former, but was ready to comply with anything else. After all, all idols are good idols. 

Nico pondered for a moment, then looked at Rin. "Nya?“ Rin looked back at her questioningly. "Don’t tell me, you want me to choose?“

"Hanayo, you didn’t tell me Rin was a mindreader?“ Nico was in (a very fake) shock. Hanayo complied and mock-gasped as well.

"Let’s leave the Legendary thing-thing for last, then!“ Rin tragically interrupted and even ignored the other two’s antics and finished, "they always say to save the best for last.“

Nico frowned for a moment, but then brightened again. "If that is her word. What do you pick, Hanayo?“

"Hmm,“ Hanayo fell into thought. She gazed at the tiny pile of DVDs (plus the big box of The Legend of Legendary Idols) carefully gazing at their titles and reminding herself. While school idols is what they were, analyzing actual idols who do this for a living would also be beneficial. And it’d be a good place to start, since school idols are just freelancing, non-professional or full-time idols. "We should start from the beginning. You know, AKB48 and the like.“

Nico nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should examine Babymetal, considering what our new song is gonna be.“ Hanayo hadn’t even thought of that. She nodded frantically.

She bent down and picked up the cover full of shiny blues and a group of shining idols. It was a good start, if anyone asked her. "But maybe we should start with this one.“

"Ah, that’d be a perfect start. Are you ready, Rin?“ Nico finally plopped down onto the mattresses herself.

"Please, do drag me down to the world of idol nerdness,“ Rin snickered and crawled closer to the screen while Hanayo was busy with inserting the DVD and such. A few minutes and a few taps of the remote, and the evening could begin.

 

* * *

 

About three CDs later (one disc into The Legend of Legendary Idols), they decided to take a break to rest their eyes for about 15 minutes. It was also getting late and Nico had to make sure her siblings went to bed soon. Nico sighed deeply, so deeply that Hanayo was a little alarmed.

"Nico?“ She called out carefully. Now both hers and Rin’s gaze was on Nico.

"What?“ Nico smiled, but more...sentimentally? The smile was more softer than the Nico who would go ’I’m the cutest idol in this world, Nico!’.

"You look troubled,“ Rin murmured. Nico chuckled.

"Ah, it’s not that, it’s just,“ she paused, "looking at them, I thought...what if μ's went on? As pros or something of the sort.“ Nico closed her eyes, raising a hand to eat another potato chip from a nearby pack. "What if it didn’t end this quick?“

The room fell silent. They all knew – they all remembered the evening at the beach. It was something neither of them will probably ever forget. Barely a month later, "And So On The Last Page Is“ was born. The more Hanayo thought about it, the blurrier everything turned-

"Big sis!“ Nico snapped out of her trance at the call of her sister. She shouted a reply.

"I’ll be right back,“ she said and left with a classic Nico wink. It made Hanayo feel a little better but...

Nico left her question ringing in the air, in a sort of awkward silence, for a little bit. Hanayo and Rin were left thinking the answer amongst themself.

 

"What if it didn’t end so quickly?“ What if μ's went on...

What would they do after Nico, Eli and Nozomi graduated? After Honoka, Umi and Kotori did, too?

 

Ever since that evening on the beach, the train station...none of them wanted to acknowledge or think about it until they were forced to. No one wanted μ's to end. Neither them or the world (well, the fans). But it wouldn’t be the same without Nico, Eli and Nozomi. It wouldn’t be μ's anymore. This was the best solution, but it still hurt.

Hanayo sighed. Just thinking about it made her feel a lump in her throat.

"Hanayo,“ Rin said, her voice quiet and not nearly as enthusiastic as usual. Hanayo turned to her. Rin was looking down at her lap. "I don’t want an Otonokizaka without Nico. Or Eli or Nozomi.“ Her voice was cracking. „Or Honoka or Umi or Kotori...“

"Rin...“ Hanayo scooted closer to the ginger-head and placed a hand over Rin’s. "I don’t,“ she stuttered, "I don’t want that either. I really, really, really don’t.“ She sniffed. She always got too emotional this quick. But thinking about it...not being able to practice and have concerts with everyone anymore like that. Not being able to see Nico, Eli and Nozomi everyday anymore and have fun talking and dancing with them. Eventually the second years, too...

"Can’t we just make this school year go on forever?“ Rin murmured, "Why do the third years have to graduate...“ She squeezed Hanayo’s hand. "It’s too fun...too fun to end.“

Just as Rin was probably going to weep (Hanayo already felt the tiny tears that had formed in her eyes), Nico loudly frowned from behind them, quickly stepping behind them to flick their heads. The two of them turned back at her. "Idiots,“ she said, but still with a warm smile that Hanayo had seen earlier during dinner. That didn’t help anything. Dammit Nico, she made it worse.

"Ah, Kayo-chin!“ Rin turned to Hanayo and grabbed her shoulders. "D-Don’t cry Kayo-chin! You’ll,“ she inhaled loudly, "You’ll make me cry, too...“ Hanayo wiped her tears, but to no avail. Now she saw a tear glimmer in Rin’s eye, too. She didn’t want Rin to cry, too.

Nico crouched down and hugged the two by their necks. "What are you crying about, Hanayo?“ She was still using that sweet bigsisterly-sounding voice. Did Nico not realize what it could do in this situation?

"I- we...we just don’t want to say goodbye to you or μ's, Nico,“ Hanayo mumbled, wiping her eyes as she could. She was busy avoiding eye contact, not wanting the tears to be seen even though it was exposed they were there.

"I’m not disappearing from the world, you know,“ Nico pouted lightly.

"I guess, but,“ Hanayo sniffled. She didn’t finish the sentence.

"We won’t see you at school or get to practice,“ Rin finished for her. The weep that had been swallowed earlier resurfaced now. Nico sighed quietly. "We wont...be able to have proper lives with you, and everyone, anymore...“

"You two...“ She pulled them both closer, a true sister-hug. "I’ll miss both of you. So-so much.“ Nico nuzzled against both of them separately and almost shouted, "But I wont cry! Because I promised not to cry until the moment comes!“ She sucked in a sharp breath, and released it in a sigh of relief.

Nico really was a true big sister. A true senior. A truly, truly inspirational idol, whose smile would make anyone feel bubbly inside. Even if Hanayo was feeling sappy, it was still happy, right?

"When that time comes though,“ Nico begun, gaining the first years’s attention again, "remember what Honoka said – Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened!“ She tried imitating Honoka’s upbeat tone, and released a long breath once it was done. "Alright?“

Hanayo and Rin nodded, pulling back.

"Nico, you really are the best big sis,“ Rin gushed, glomping Nico again in the Rin Way Of Hugging.

Hanayo giggled, wiping her eyes more just in case. She was pretty sure her waterworks had ended. Nico really was a Smile girl.

She just realized they never really thought of answers to Nico’s question, but as Nico said – when the moment comes, she’ll think about it. For now-

"You really are admirable, Nico,“ Hanayo smiled shyly. "You and your siblings are so cute.“

Nico blushed a little. "I am super idol and big sister Nico-nii, after all,“ she giggled, ruffling Rin’s hair.

"Oh, also,“ Nico turned to Hanayo, "exactly how many DVD’s did you bring, Hanayo?“ She changed the topic kind of drastically. "There are still four on The Legend of Legendary Idols series, and we’ve seen two, but they were all mine.“

"Oh!“ Hanayo clasped her hands together, "I don’t have as many, only three.“ Hanayo recalled to the DVD’s that she hadn’t watched in a long while. One of them was even A-Rise’s full live...She was so happy she had managed to get it, a limited edition! It had come with a T-Shirt and keychains of the trio.

"Good!“ Nico had been released by Rin and was standing up by now. "We’ll finish The Legend of Legendary Idols, should take about three more hours, and then if we have time, one of your discs and the rest for tomorrow.“ Nico huffed. "How about it?“ The first years cheered in agreement.

 

* * *

 

They were up until 4:30. At least, the last time Hanayo remembers seeing was 4:23, so she probably fell asleep a little while after that. When she woke up the first time, Nico and Rin were sleeping peacefully, and since she was still sleepy, and it was only 8:50, she nodded off some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll ganbaruby on the last chapter, then it'll be done. Yay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been finished for a while but I forgot to upload.  
> Short and might seem rushed, but ah...

Winter holiday had ended. μ's was almost finally united back in the Idol Research Club’s room, only Eli still missing as her flight to return arrived tomorrow morning.

Hanayo had arrived a little earlier, as did Rin and Nico. They had planned it, Nico saying it would fit as they were kind of the only ones who didn’t go anywhere during break (Maki didn’t either but at least she had a clear goal for the break).

The other members trickled in shortly – Kotori, Maki, Honoka and Umi, Nozomi being the last one. Nozomi seemed to also carry an extra bag, which Hanayo guessed to be souvenirs..?

„Now we’re all here!“ Honoka cheered and then added, „except for Eli, of course.“

„Are we going to practice even without Eli?“ Maki asked, looking mainly at Umi. Umi, surprisingly, shrugged instead.

„I don’t think it would be that good of an idea, Eli is the center, after all.“ She sighed, crossing her arms. „We could, but...“

„But there’s not much point if the center isn’t there?“ Maki finished for her. She was twirling with her hair again. Umi looked as if what Maki said wasn’t at all it, but she concluded and nodded.

„Don’t be too down, Umi, she’ll be back by tomorrow,“ Nozomi reached over the table to pat Umi’s shoulder. „We can take it easy today and go home a little earlier,“ she said to everyone, but her hand reached for her (extra) bag. „But for now, I said I’d bring souvenirs, yeah?“

Rin and Honoka cheered aloud, Nozomi laughing as she laid various things to the table.

 

„I had a very interesting encounter there,“ Nozomi begun, while the others examined the various goods. There weren’t that many things, actually. It was mostly food (which you’d probably find from nearby if you looked hard enough), but food wasn’t bad at all. Honoka was already munching on some seaweed.

„I actually met some fans of us.“ With that, she gained all of their attention. Honoka’s eyes lit up immediately, followed by the others.

„Really, nya?“ Rin stood up from the excitement, and Nozomi nodded eagerly.

„They were middle school students, one on their last year, the other just starting. I think they were siblings. They were truly adorable,“ Nozomi giggled. „Actually, I even remember them saying who their favorites of the group were. Of course they said they loved us all, but the older girl’s favorite is Elicchi, and the younger one was a fan of you, Hanayo.“ She glanced at Hanayo, who took in the info. She might’ve blushed a little. Even with μ's being such a known group, Hanayo didn’t look up that many comments on inidividuals. She had seen them, yes, but she always felt a pang of flattery in her heart when a fan of _her_ emerged.

Nozomi giggled again. „And when I went to the shrine, I saw another girl, who recognized me. She wasn’t a die-hard fan like the others, but she still stared at me admiredly. Since we met at the shrine I was heading for, I asked her if she knew anything about it, and we had a nice conversation.“

After that story (which Hanayo would say was the more exciting part) Nozomi proceeded to tell more about Uchiura, and from what she said, it really did seem like a small but charming town. And it did have μ's fans!

 

* * *

 

 

„So, what did everyone else do?“ Kotori asked, looking around.

„Nico, Rin and Hanayo decided to make their own song,“ Maki said. Hanayo flinched a little, almost forgetting about all that. Nico, meanwhile, was grinning devilishly. Everyone else stared at them, surprised.

„And you helped them, Maki?“ With Honoka’s absent-minded comment, Maki realized she had basically admitted to sort of being part of the crew, and as one would expect, she pouted.

„I haven’t heard of any song,“ Umi murmured and questioningly looked over to the three of them.

„We wrote the lyrics ourself,“ Nico huffed proudly. Rin decided to join her, crossing her arms and all, but Hanayo was unsure how to react accordingly. Even thought they wrote it all together and even Maki approved, she still felt (unvoluntarily) self-conscious.

„Wowie,“ Honoka gasped. She looked very excited.

„Are we going to get to hear it?“ Kotori asked eagerly.

„Of course!“ Nico winked. „But maybe we should wait for Eli, too.“

„Uuuuh, I wanna hear it now,“ Honoka sighed. She went lump in her chair, head resting on the table. „But I guess we’ll wait for Eli, too.“

„I’ll be looking forward to it,“ Umi smiled. Hanayo wondered what exactly could resident poet(?) and lyricist Umi Sonoda say to those lyrics. It wasn’t that poetic, but Hanayo thought it gave the song even more of a uniqueness.

„Then let’s have a movie night with all these snacks and wait for Elicchi,“ Nozomi offered, to which everyone agreed to.

That said, everyone gathered at Honoka’s place later, and proceeded to eat whatever Nozomi didn’t want to save for home and whatever Honoka sneaked from the bakery downstairs.

 

* * *

 

 

When Eli arrived the next day, still quite drowsy from the flight, hearing the first NicoRinPana song seemed to wake her up enough. It seemed to pump everyone full of hype, so much, that Honoka had to physically jump up and shake the three while praising the song to be a masterpiece.

In fact, everyone had been surprised, in a good way. Nozomi thought it might be a good idea to even make a single for the trio, half of it already done. Everyone else seemed to approve (Honoka encouraging it heavily), and Maki said she would do it if they just gave her some lyrics. This time, Umi said she could advise them in the lyric departement as well. Hanayo felt so fulfilled.

 

„So...that was a success, nya?“ Rin muttered to Nico and Hanayo as they left Homura bakery.

„Of course it was!“ Nico said as-a-matter-of-factly. „And we’re definetly making that single,“ she stated. After a moment, she added, „right?“ She looked between the two of them.

Hanayo nodded. Of course she did. „Yes!“ She cheered.

„Of course, nya!“ Rin did a little jump in her excitement.

For a moment, just a moment, Hanayo saw a more thoughtful smile on Nico’s lips, before she grinned. „Let’s make it as great as ’after school NAVIGATORS’!“

 

* * *

 

 

NicoRinPana ended up leaving it’s own mark on the history of μ's. It was a one time trio, but that was probably enough. Even after all these years, Hanayo would recall that winter break. Writing their own song, kind of, was an experience she wouldn’t forget. Even if it was just the lyrics. Looking back on it, Hanayo wished she could’ve aided Maki some more in making the actual melody. But this was fine. This was very much fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this smaller fic thing! I hope it wasn't too much of a waste of time and that you've managed to get some kind of a kick out of reading this;


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